Stop-motion mechanism for knitting-machines.



W. W. BURKEx STOP MOTIQN MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-22. I913.

Patentw July 27, I915 5 SHEETS-SHEnT I.

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W. W. BURKE.

STOP MOTION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED AUG.22, 1913.

1,148,076. Patented July 27, 1915.

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STOP MOTION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.22I I9I3. v

I m gfiwo PatentedJuly 27, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W. W. BURKE.

STOP MOTION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED AUG.22, I9I3.

1,148,076. Patented July 27, 1915.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG.Z2. I9I3.

Patented July 27, 1915.

5 SHEETSSI'IEET 5- n v L v.

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y irris earns WILLIAM W. BURKE, OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FOURTH TO JAMES E. BURKE AND ONE-FOURTH T0 ALEXANDER J. COOPER, BOTH OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT.

STOP-MOTION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 1y 2], 1915;

7 Application filed August 22, 1913. Serial No. 786,106.

-To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM W. BURKE,

set forth and especially for knitting machines in which when the normal feeding of the yarnto the machine is interrupted the stop motion will be operated to stop the machine very quickly, but without jarring or injuring the same. Themechanism op crates to stop the machine when the thread or yarn breaks or when abnormal tension is.

brought to bear upon the thread or yarn and also when the thread runs out on the bobbin.

In the mechanism hereinafter described two devices are employed for making and breaking the circuit. One of these devices embodies in its constructionfa drop device which is adapted to openand close an electric circuit, the device being so constructed and arranged that when a thread or yarn breaks or when abnormal tension is brought to bear upon said thread or yarn the drop device will. be operated to close the circuit. When the circuit is thus closed a tripper is operated to release a spring-actuated member which is connected to a clutch mechanism and operates upon one member of the clutch mechanism to move thesame and dis-. engage the clutch from operative engagement with the main driving shaft of the ma chine, and at the same time that the clutch is thus operated a friction brake is operated to stop the rotation of the shaft, the friction brake being'operated for this purpose by the mechanism which disengages the clutch from operative relation with the shaft.

It is desirable that when the clutch thrown out and the main driving shaft stopped the electric circuit should be broken and the second device for making and breakmg the electric circuit is operated to produce this result, namely, to break the circult, after the first device has performed its work of operating a tripper to release the spring-actuated member.

Preferably the first device referred to for closing the circuit upon the breaking of the strand of yarn or upon abnormal tension be- 111g brought to bear thereon is like that embodied in applicants co-pending application Serial No. 766,685, filed May 10, 1913,

and the improvement thereon set forth in applicants co-pending application Serial N 0. 784,923, filed August 15, 1913, to which applications, for specific details, reference may be had. The other device for making and breaking the electric circuit may be of any suitable construction. i

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the followingv specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figurel is a plan view of a stop motion mechanism embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation ofthe same. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectionai elevation taken. on line of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2, illustrating the friction clutch mechanism. Fig. dis a detail sectional elevation taken on line f -6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectional plan taken on line7-7 of Fig. 3. Fig.8 is a sectional elevation taken on line 88 of Fig. 1. Fig.

- 9 is a perspective view of one of the circuit making and breaking devices. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 11 is a transverse section taken on line 11-1l of Fig. 10. I

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Inthe drawings, 5 is the circuit closing device which is operated when'the normal feeding of the yarn is interrupted either by the breaking thereof or by abnormal tension,

thereon.

6 is a base in two 7 and an upper part 8, and these parts preferably are formed of insulating material and in the upper part 8 a drop device 9 is slidably mounted, consisting of a wire bent in EJ-shape, the legs 10 constituting contact parts, viz, a lower part i P sit:

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a tail points and the closed end of said drop device being is t at 11 to form guide for a strand of yarn 12. l Vhen said strand of yarn breaks or the supply runs out, or when abnormal tension is applied thereto, the legs .10 will be caused, in described, to engage the contacts 13 which preferably consist of mercury inclosed in chambers 1i contained within the base 6. The legs are arranged to slide in holes formed in the upper part 8 of the base, said holes leading-into the chambers 14 from the top of said upper part 8. In the upper surface of the lower part 7 and immediately above the chambers 14. washers 27 are pro vided which have holes 28 therein through which the legs 10 project into the chambers 14. These washers are preferably made of felt and prevent any of the mercury in the chambers 14 from leaking out between the members 7 and 8.

lVhcn the electric circuit is open the parts will be in the position illustrated in Fig. 11. When the circuit is closed by the drop wire 9 the electromagnet 16 will be energized and the armature 1'7 of said electromagnet will be drawn toward said, electromagnet and rock a; vertical shaft 18 to disengage a tripper arm 19 fast thereto from an arm 20 pivotally connected to a rotary member 21.

Tlhe rotary member 21 mounted upon a stud 22 fast to a bracket 23 which, in turn, is fastened to a cross-head 24: forming a portion of the frame of the machine, said frame in part, of two side framesf25 and 26. The arms 20 are supplied in dupli cate, as are also the tripper arms 1 and said arms have springs 29 connected thereto and operating, when released by the tripper arms S), to move the spring-actuated. member 21 in the direction of the arrow a. (Fig. 1).

The main driving shaft 30 is journaled in suitable bearings 3.1 and 32 fast to the frame of the machine and to said shaft is fastened a bevel gear 33 which meshes into another bevel grar 34, the latter gear being fastened to a vertical shaft to which is .Jastcned a spur gear 36 which meshes into a gear 37 fast to a running ring 38, and upon said running ring the lower needle cylinder 39 is fastened. The upper needle cylinder 10 is fastened to a gear ll which is fastened to a running ring +12 rotatably mounted in a bed-plate 43. Therunning ring 38 is rotatably mounted in the bed-plate 4% and said bedplates are suitably mounted upon the frame of the machine, all in a manner well known to those skilled in this art.

A rotary motion is imparted to the upper needle cylinder 40 as well as to the lower needle cylinder 39, by a gear which meshes into the gear 41, said gear being fastened to the upright shaft but not shown in the drawings. y

A hand wheel is fastened to the main manner hereinafter.

.an annular .have screw-threaded engagement with the shaft- 30 whereby a rotary motion may be imparted to said shaft, when desired, by hand. Said shaft is rotated by power by means of a belt l6 which engages a clutch pulley having clutch arms 18 pivotally mounted thereon and engaging another member 49 of said clutch, which member is slidably mounted upon the shaft 30 and is splinod thereto. The member 49 is provided with an annular groove 50 in its periphery into w-hich project pins 51 which are fastened to an arm 52 which, in its turn, is fastened to a. rock-shaft 53 mounted to rock in bearings 5% which project from the side frame 26. Y

The rock-shaft has two arms and 56 fast thereto by means of which it may be op erated by hand. It also has an arm 57 fast thereto which is connected by a link 58 to a screw 59 fast to the rotary member 21 and, therefore, when said rotary member is released, as hereinbefore described, the link 58 will rock the arm 57 and the rock-shaft 53, whereby the arm 52 will be rocked to more the slidable member 4-5) of the clutch away from the clutch pulley 17, thus releasing the clutch arms l8 and. allowing the clutch pulley l7 to rotate freely upon the shaft 30.

The rock-shaft 58 is provided with. still another arm (50 having a stop-screw 6 in screw-threaded engagement therewith and adapted to bear against the side frame 26 when the clutch member 1-9 is moved to disengage the clutch from the main driving shaft.

When the electric circuit is broken, as hereinbefore described, it desirable that the, rotation of the main shaft 30 and, time fore, the movement of the parts driven thereby, should be stopped as soon as possible in order that the yarn may not run off the needles, with the resultant inconvenience, loss of time and waste of material To this end a friction brake S1 is provided which com' of a collar (32 fastened by a setserew 3-5 to the shaft 30. Upon this collar .is rotatably mounted a ratchet G4. which is held in frictional engagement with the collar 62- by annular washers ($5 of a suitable material to resist wear, said annular washers being held against one face of the ratchet by plate (36 and screws 67 which collar 62 and extend tl'irough the washers and plate 66, said screws being ncircled by springs (38 which be: against the plate (36 and are forced thereagainst' by screwing the screws 87 into the'collar 62, thus forcing the washers toward and against the ratchet (3% with a yielding pressure.

A. pawl 69 is pivoted at 70 to an car 71 on the cross-lu-ad 2i and has a pin 72 projecting from its upper end through a slot 73 in an arm it which is pivotallyconnected at 75 to the spring driven member 21. A lug 76 is fastened to the spring driven member 21 and is adapted, ,when said spring tation of the ratchet 6 1 and, through the friction washers and collar 62, causing the shaft 30 to be stopped quickly, although not instantaneously, there being a. possibility for the shaft to continue its rotation for a slight distance, after the pawl 69 engages the ratchet 61, between the washers 65 and the collar 62.

It is desirable, as hereinbefore set forth, that .the circuit should be broken after the clutch mechanism is thrown out, in order that the batteries may not be weakened or run down and for this purpose a circuit making and breaking device 77 is provided consisting of a. casing 78 (Fig. 7 fastened to the cross head 24 and having terminals 79 and 80 adapted to be engaged by a contact plate 81 having a stem 82 slidable in the casing 78 and provided with a head 83. A spring 84 holds the contact plate 81 normally out of contact with the terminals '79 and 80. Said plate 81 is brought into con tact with said terminals by'a cam-shaped projection 85 which, projects from the rear face of an arm 86 pivoted-at 87 (Fig. 3) to the cross head 24. This arm is connected by a link 88 to the arm 55 by a stud 89 which projects through a slot 90 in said link 88. A spring 91 is connected to the link 88 at one end and to the stud 89 at the other.

The vertical shaft 18 is rotatably mounted upon the bed-plate 44, as seen in Fig. 8, and is rotated by a spring 92 in a direction to bring a pin 93' fast to said shaft against a bracket 94 in the lower end of which the shaft 18 is rctata-bly mounted. The shaft 18 is rotated in an opposite direction to that in which it is rotated by the spring 92, or.

. toward the right (Fig. 1), to disengage the tripper arm 19 from the arm 20 by the armature lever 17, the armature lever being actuated by the electromagnet 16, as hereinbefore set forth, said electroma a part of the electric circuit 95.

The electromagnet' 16 is fastened to the cross head .24 and is connected by an electric wire 96 (see Fi 1) to the battery 97 and by a wire 98 to one of the terminals 99 which connects with one of the mercury contacts 13. The other terminal 100 is connectedby a wire 101 to the terminal 79 of the circuit making and breaking device 77. The other terminal 80 of said make and break device is connected by a wire 102 to the electro magnet 16, thus completing the circuit.

Referring, now, to the circuit closing device illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and the drop wire 9 is held out of contact with the contacts 13 by the strand of yarn 12 which net forming passes from a yarn mass 104 through a guide eye 105 provided in the auxiliary frame 106 through a yarn scraper 107 to the guide eye or bend 11 formed in the drop wire 9, thence upwardly through a, stationary guide-eye 109, through a movable guide-eye 110 and through stationary guide-eyes 111, 112, 113,

and 1141 to :the primary needles 115 of the knitting machine.

The movable guide-eye 110 is fastened to a U-sha-ped lever 116 pivoted at 117 to the block 8. A pin 118, constituting an arm, extends from the lever 116 over the closed end of the U-shaped drop wire 9 and forms a stop therefor to prevent said eye 110 from being moved away from the contacts 13 more than a certain distance. It willbe understood that as the lever. 116 is-rockedupon its pivot, the pin118 will contact with the drop wire 9 and force the same 'downwardly until the contact points of said wire engage the contacts 13 and complete the circuit. 7

It will also be understood that one ofthe circuit closing devices 5 will be supplied for each feed of yarn in a knitting machine.

In some cases the clutch pulley is located 'on the opposite side of the machine front that in which it is shown in the drawings in this case, but it will be seen that the mechanism is clearly applicable to such an arrangement of parts, as the rocker-shaft 53 with its connected parts can be located as well at' one side of the machine as the other, and'therocker arm 86 can be operated to open and close the circuit by means of the electric switch 77 as well in one case as the other, the cam-shaped projection 85 being equally operative whether the arm8 6 which carries it is moved toward the right or left relatively to the switch 77 The general operationof the mechanism hereinbefore specifically described is as follows: Assuming the parts to be in thepoSition illustrated in F gs-'1 2 and 3 of the drawingsfand that the normal feeding of the yarn 12 is interfered with, either by the breaking of the same or by abnormal tension thereon, the drop wire 9 will, in the case'of the breaking of the yarn or the running out of the supply thereof, drop by its own weight. until the legs 10 engage the contacts 13, thus closmgthe electric circuit 95. As

soon as said electric circuit is closed'the ar-' mature lever 17 will be drawn-toward the electromagnet 16 thus releasing the arm 20 and allowing the spring actuated member 21 thereto in the proper direction to slide the clutch member 49 out of engagement with the clutch arms 18 and thus releasing the clutch pulley 47 from engagement with the' shaft 30. The driving shaft being released completing the circuit and operating the from the clutch it is to be stopped by the friction brake 61 which is thrown into operative engagement by the arm 7% which rocks the pawl. 69 into engagement with the ratchet (3st and thus causes the shaft to be brought to'a stop, as hereinbcfore described.

When the rocker shattis rocked, as hereinbeiore set forth, the stud 89 will engage the right hand end of the slot 90 (Fig. 3) and move the-link 88 toward the right, thus rocking the arm 86 and moving the aim-shaped projection 85 thereon out of engagement with the head 8-3 and allowing the plate 81 to be thrown out of Contact with the terminals '59 and 80, thus breaking the electric circuit.

By means of the levers and 56 it will. be understood that the electric circuit may at any time be broken and the clutch thrown out of engagement with the shaft 30 from either the front or rear of the n'iachine and also, if desired, theelectric circuit may be broken by the operator pushing the link 88 toward the right (Fig. 3) without disengaging said clutch from the shaft. In the latter case when the link 88 is released by the open ator the spring 91 will move the rocker-arm H6 back to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2 This is a very convenient construction in cases where the operator wishes to break the electric circuit without stopping the machine.

\Yhen the yarn 12 is prevented from feeding freely and almornial tension brought to bear thereon, the lever 116 will be tipped upon its'pivot 117 by the jarn by means of the guide-eye 110, and when this happens the pin-118 will engage the drop wire 9 and push the same downwardly until. thelcgs 10 contact with the mercury contacts 13, thus stop niechanism, as hereinheforcdescribed, to stop the machine.

Having thus described :niy invention, what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to se cure is:

i. A knitting machine having, in combination, a, driving shaft, mechanism embodying a clutch constructed and arranged to rotate said shaft, an electric circuit including two devices for opening and closing said circuit, one of said devices constructed and arranged to engage a strand of ya in and adapted to be operated When the normal feeding of said yarn is interrupted to close said circuit, a brake constructed and arranged to stop the rotation. of said shaft, a rotary meniiber and connections therewith constructed and arranged upon the closing of said circuit to ease firstdisengage said clutch from said shaft, second, throw said brake into operative engagement with said shaft to stop its reta tion, and third, operate the other oi said devices to open said circuit.

A, knitting machine having, in combiuathan a driving shaft, mechanism embodying a clutch constructed and arranged to rotate said shaft, an electric. circuit including; two devices for opening and. closing said circuit, one of said devices constructed and arranged to engage a strand of yarn and adapted to be operated when the normal feeding of said yarn is inte 'rupted to close said circuit, a brake constructed and arranged to stop the rotation oi said shaft, a spi-ing-actiuited rotary member and connections therewith, a tripper arranged to lock said rotary member against rotation, said trippcr constructed and arranged upon the closing f said cir" cuit to release said rotary member and said coin'iections, whereupon said rotary member and said connections will. first disengage said clutch from. said shaft, seconu throw said brake into operative engagement with said shaft to stop its rotation, and third operate the other ot'said devices to open said circuit.

3. A knitting machine having, in combination, a driving shaft, mechanism embodying a clutch constructed and arranged torotate said shaft, an electric circuit including" two devices for opening: and closing said circuit, one of said devices constructed and arranged to engage a straiul of yarn and adapted to be operated when the normal. feeding oi said yarn is interrupted to close said circuit, a, brake constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said shaft, a rotary member and connections therewith constructed and arranged upon the closing of said circuit to first disengage said clutch from said shaft, second, throw said brake into operative engagement with said shaft to stop its rotation, and third, operate the other of said devices to open said circuit, the connections from said rotary member to said last-named device being constructed and arranged to allow said device to he manir ally operated independent of said clutch and brake In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. in presence ot two subscribing W115 nesses.

iVZLLiAh" XV.

' Witnesses:

NLAUD M. GALUSIIA, ROBERT E Hush-r 

